Call him Prince of Darkness. Darth Vader. Or, if you want to get on his good side, the Angel Moroni. Just don't call him candidate for governor.

Joe Steffen's not running.

"I really have decided not to run," Steffen told me yesterday. "The main reason is, most people thought I was doing it just to be vindictive - to be a jerk or be vindictive. I have no personal animosity toward anybody. I didn't want it to come across looking like I did."

Is this the same Joe Steffen who cultivated a foreboding image as an Ehrlich administration aide, one charged with rooting out slackers (Democrats, critics say) from state government jobs? The guy who lost his job for gossiping about Mayor Martin O'Malley's personal life on the Internet? The one who seemed to turn against his former boss, Gov. Robert Ehrlich, when he said a few months back that he might run for governor as a Libertarian?

Steffen said his well-reported dark side is just that - one side of his personality, not the whole thing.

"I had a statue of the Grim Reaper. Yes, I had Darth Vader," he said, referring to decorations on his desk at various state agencies. "I also had a statue of the Angel Moroni [like those on Mormon temples]. I collect icons. I mean, they were all there."

Steffen said his desire to run for governor was based on heartfelt libertarian principles - pro-gambling, pro-gay rights, anti-taxes - not a desire to stick it to Ehrlich or, for that matter, to O'Malley, who is running in the Democratic primary. Steffen also figured, "I've got high name ID."

I didn't know Steffen was a Mormon. (not that that's relevant, just an interesting side note).

I never even knew there was talk of him running. Thanks for all these pings; kind of an embarassment to be learning about Maryland politics from a New Yorker. haha But it's all good. Any way to get the truth is good enough for me.

I am not a Mormon. Nor was I equating Moroni with Vader. I collect icons - have for years - and had both on my desk (along with a Grim Reaper icon) as symbolism of both "good and evil." Perhaps more than that, Vader, Moroni, and Reaper are simply three of my personal favorite icons.

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